Feral Days
by KJAX89
Summary: A collection of one-shots and short stories that focus on the feral kids with plenty of Apex, Greer, Logan and K to go around along with the rest of the X-Men. Set in the 906 Universe.
1. Chapter 1

**_So this is the first of the one-shots. Some are gonna be this short ... some will be much longer. Some are gonna be this fluff and some are gonna be way darker. Just depends what's been bouncing around my head that week. Lemme know your thoughts cause I love that review notification._**

 ** _Strong suggestion to at least read some of Canucklehead Cowgirls works and do yourself a favor and check out Cheshirecat9116's work as well._**

 ** _I'm gonna put the relevant ages of the kids in here to give some context and an idea of where we are time wise ... least helps me._**

* * *

Will: 3

Angela: 1

Greer walked in and covered her mouth so as not to disturb the scene. A smile creeping onto her face.

Will looked like he had fallen asleep mid-wrestle with his father...just a mess of limbs and dark fur. Colton was on the floor with him, stretched out so that the he was nestled against his flank. Angela was curled up asleep on his back, her face slowly moving against Colton's fur and letting out light purrs. Greer recognized the position instantly, causing her smile to widen.

Forgetting her previous plan to collapse on the bed, she curled up next to Colton who must have tired himself out babysitting as he didn't even stir. Angela on the other hand did, looking up with a slight mewl and an annoyed glance to whoever dared to wake her. Greer smiled.

"Sorry sweetheart..." she whispered before closing her eyes earning a pout from the kitten who immediately decided that her mother should be punished for waking her up.

Greer opened her eyes in surprise as she felt something land on her shoulder followed by sharp little teeth sinking into her ear.

"Angie... Stop..." she laughed quietly as the kitten tugged and hissed before spitting out a mouthful of her mother's hair ... She didn't have this problem with her father. Greer rolled her eyes as the kitten continued to tug.

"Come here you..." she muttered lifting a hissing and snarling Angela off her and nuzzling the kitten instead. After a bit more squirming, Angela stopped hissing but her amber eyes remained accusing at her mother. Greer raised an eyebrow and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, causing the kitten to stop squirming and stare back at her mother in wonder. Greer smiled before bringing her daughter in close, intending to cuddle her to sleep only to blink in surprise as she found a little tongue lapping at her forehead.

"Aww stop... You're too cute..." she told her daughter who kept licking like her life depended on it. It was a few more minutes of this before Greer felt the licking slow and then stop, but the tongue remained on her forehead. Opening her eyes, Greer realized Angie had fallen asleep right on her face... Rolling her eyes, she wrapped her arms protectively around her daughter and re-positioned the kitten so she fitted safely beside her face.

With a purr, Greer finally allowed herself to fall asleep, a contended smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Blackhawk, Cheshire, Griezz ... thanks for the reviews. Know this update took a while but some of this stuff is OLD and needed some serious edits but pretty sure it was all for the best._**

Will: 2

Abbey: +3

* * *

Marie pulled up to the mansion with a smile on her face. It was the same one she had been wearing for the last few miles. It had been five months since she had last seen her grandson for Christmas and back then he still had to be carried around in a bundle by Greer.

Greer had called her a few days ago and after finally pestering her to just come out with it, she had asked if Marie would be interested in watching Will for a couple days. Her and Colton had to go off somewhere and while she knew her friends would be willing to watch him, she also knew that Marie had been wanting to come see Will. She could watch him at the Mansion while the two of them were gone.

Marie had called a few people, tasked Parker with emailing her his work and packed a bag all in a couple of hours. She had driven up to the Mansion the next day to find Greer waiting for her. Only when she actually got out of the car was she able to see Will hiding in her arms, shyly peeking at her every few seconds.

"Oh he's so cute!" Marie couldn't help but exclaim before hesitantly ruffling Will's hair...she didn't want it to seem like she was petting him. The cub however didn't seem to mind and after a few hesitant attempts to swipe at the foreign hand, finally leaned out to allow Marie to start scratching him behind the ears.

Marie couldn't help but smile proudly as her grandson started mewling and reaching for her, prompting Greer to pass the squirming kitten. There was an adorable purr from Will as he curled himself into Marie's shoulder, prompting her eyes to widen when she felt the little claws sink into her jacket. Marie frowned a little but patted Will fondly as she followed Greer into the mansion.

"Mom...are you sure about this?" Marie could always tell when Greer was anxious. The addition of the pinned back ears and a twitching tail just adding to the ease of recognizing when Greer was having second thoughts.

"Greer, in case you've forgotten I already raised two kids at once and I'm fairly certain if you asked for references you'd find I did a pretty good job." Greer carried her mom's bag as she led her the guest room Marie would be staying in. A rather large crib was already there...although Marie did pause at the fact it was made of metal before giving the innocent looking kitten a strange look.

"Yea...about that...He - kind of broke the last one." Greer ran a hand through her hair as Marie just raised her eyebrows. Greer then went into a long list of Will's schedule, what he liked, what he didn't, when he needed to nap, what to do if he was crying or teething or -

"Greer! Relax...I can handle it, I promise. Now go. Get out of here...go do whatever it is that you do." Greer let out a little sigh and giving Will a quick kiss and hugging her mom, hurried down the stairs to get prepped. It took her forever to get into that all the damn tactical stuff.

Marie however was barely alone for five minutes before she turned and jumped with a strangled shout at Colton suddenly standing in the door. Marie quickly tried recovering with some rushed apology but the panther barely seemed to acknowlege her beyond a brief look before walking past her and to Will sitting in his crib. She watched, her urge to step in making her cringe as she reminded herself the giant panther was her grandson's father and someone she trusted, as Colton simply leaned down and rested his head against Will's ... something she'd seen Greer and him do on more than one occasion. 'Bunting' she think she remembered reading in one of the hundred articles she'd read about felines.

Seemingly satisfied, Colton stood back up and finally turned to level Marie with the look she knew was coming and like Greer had told her she was careful to meet his eye. The panther looked from Marie ... to Will ... and back to Marie. The message wasn't hard to miss.

"With my life." Marie didn't expect the tremor in her voice but she meant it.

Apex studied the somewhat frail human but nothing in her tone or her scent said anything other than that she was speaking the truth.

Marie took the nod Colton gave her as about as much approval she was going to get and with that she watched as the panther silently left the room presumably to go after her daughter.

Marie let out the breath she'd been holding and giving herself a little shake and putting on a smile she went back to Will although she came up short as she realized something. Had Colton been carrying a gun on his hip? The idea sounded ludicruous but then another idea occured to her that got her to pick up her grandson and hold him close as he snuggled back in.

Where was her daughter running off to that would get someone like Colton to feel the need that he wasn't weapon enough?

* * *

Marie was able to shrug off the shadow of doubt about just what her daughter was up to and get to the business of taking care of her grandson.

Dinner was a bit of a challenge. Not that she couldn't get Will to eat his food...just not exactly the food Greer had told her to try first.

Veggies? No good. He had hissed accusingly at her.

Pasta? No luck. The little scamp had either played with it and gotten sauce in his fur or spat it out.

After working her way through the list, Marie raised an eyebrow as she read the instructions to give the little cub an half a chicken (lightly cooked) and a bottle of milk...twice before bed.

Marie had assumed Greer had made a mistake but after watching him devour his first 'dinner' and happily go after his second a few hours later...Marie couldn't help but wonder just how big Will was going to get if he was already eating like this. Marie checked and saw she was supposed to feed him no less than five times tomorrow. She couldn't help but shake her head ... even with all of Greer's changes she'd never seen her eat like this.

A small tisk from across the kitchen got Marie to turn around and she spotted K sitting next to that man Greer always talked about ... - Logan - turn back to the paper she'd been studying. Marie had picked up her watching before but let it drop with a shrug. Most of the other staff had been very friendly to her thus far ... she could handle a few outliers.

At least getting Will to bed was familiar. A bath, which had resulted in her keeping a firm grip on his tail to get him to stay in the tub, bedtime story and soon she had Will lightly purring as she gently scratched him to sleep, her own contented smile etched on her lips as she gently kissed her grandson goodnight.

* * *

Marie fell into the chair with a tired, 'ooof'

She glanced around in an attempt to see if that tiny ball of gray and black had decided to make her life a little easier but he was still nowhere in sight.

She had raised twins -twins! - and none of that had prepared her for today.

Will might have only been one and couldn't walk on two legs yet but that didn't mean he couldn't _move_.

The first time she had tried chasing him he had almost outpaced her and seemed to barely be out of breath. After that, she had learned her lesson. But as much as Will liked being held and nuzzled, he still would squirm when he got bored and the chasing would resume.

She had tried everything...puzzles, books, toys...but aside from climbing on the rather elaborate play structure Colton had erected, she couldn't figure out what to do with him. And now...just to make matters worse...she couldn't find him. She'd tried finding Jean or Scott but it seemed most of Greer's friends were out on 'pickups' ... whatever the hell that meant.

"You really suck at this." K had smelled the anxiety from walking past the living room and one glance at Marie had finished the mental picture. The reporter however was surprised it was K of all people offering to help ... there had always been tension between the two and while Marie had tried at the beginning to overcome it, K never seemed very interested. Greer had forgiven her ... why not K? Gathering herself at that arched eyebrow, she quickly gathered herself.

"What? No...I - it's just...you haven't happened to see a darting ball of fur recently have you?" K just shook her head and took a seat on the floor across from Marie who to groan in a very Greer like manner.

"You really do suck at this." K's tone was as always matter of fact. Why the woman needed to stick around just to insult her Marie wasn't sure and opened her mouth to retort about having seemed to have raised Greer just fine but K glanced over at her as if asking her to fall into that trap and the reporter thought better of it. Greer talked about K only second to Logan nowadays and getting into a fight with her didn't seem like a good idea.

"I'll admit it's a bit of a learning curve. I've never seen a toddler act -"

"He's not a toddler." K's tone was not kind.

"Excuse me?" K pinched the bridge of her nose at both the sense of deja vue and the pain of having to point out the obvious to so called 'observant people.'

"He's a feral and more importantly he's a cub. The kid's got instincts and he's gonna act on em."

"I - I know that," Marie fixed the hair behind her ears in a tick familiar to her daughter, "and I love that about him. I've never seen another ba - cub like him. But I don't see - wait, what instincts?"

"Instincts," K said. "You know ... like the ones telling you to run for the hills right now and never look back."

Now it was Marie's turn to give the notably younger looking K a look.

"I've reported from warzones, natural disasters and my daughters room during her 'singer' phase ... I don't I 'run for the hills.'"

"Oh WOW, you're such a hard ass," K responded as sarcastically as possible, "You just don't have any damn sense then. Since if you did, you might realize that you're not the top predator around here ... not that those microgreen salads count as prey."

"I'm pretty sure the top predator left here the other day," Marie half-chuckled as Colton flashed through her mind.

"Yeah, he's not the worlds most dangerous mutant, but I can see where someone like you might think that," the smile K gave her was hard for Marie to describe but it finally succeeded in making her want to be someplace else. Not that the infuriating little brunette needed to know that. She really tried but could never understand what Greer was so enamored with.

"If you'll excuse me I need to hunt down my - HOLY!" Marie had her hands up as something shot out from her right and K barely turned as she caught Will in mid pounce, his claws reaching out for Maire as he hung frozen in the air for just a moment before he was pulled tight into K as he giggled in obvious delight.

Marie could only watch in amazement as she fought to get her jackhammering heart to calm down as K flipped him onto his belly and mixed scratches with firm petting before releasing him. Will quickly scurried away, only to poke his head around the corner to check that K had turned her back before attempting his attack once again.

"He hasn't been hiding. He's been trying to hunt you," K said, finally cluing Marie in, since obviously the woman wasn't going to get there without a road map, all while she pretended to ignore Will as he slowly scampered towards her.

Marie rubbed her forehead. She made it sound so easy but if Will kept disappearing like this it was going to be the death of her.

"Kid needs to get _out,_ " K growled lightly near the end as this time she didn't bother turning and instead caught Will as he lunged for her back and flipped him over her shoulder and into her lap, letting him wrestle her hand as he fought to get out.

Marie took all of this in as K proceeded to wrestle with Will for a while (and by 'wrestle' she meant K somehow pinning Will with one hand or a foot) until all that was left was a panting cub in the middle of the living room and with another rumble in Will's direction which he answered with an adorable growl of his own, K got up without another word and headed upstairs.

"So," Marie said thoughtfully to herself as Will dragged himself back to her lap and promptly passed out, "you need to get out huh?"

* * *

Marie took a nervous glance around, suddenly wondering if this was such a great idea.

"Oh quiet you…" she grumbled to a squirming Will, who she had managed to squeeze into a tiny raincoat. She couldn't blame the little guy though...the park was beautiful this time of year. She wondered if Greer had even brought him outdoors before...The little tiger practically swiveled his head at everything. Letting out little excited mewls as he tried his best to take in everything.

Occasionally, she allowed him to stick out a tiny paw to catch a falling leaf, or butterfly… But for the time being, she was trying her best to keep the little kitten from being seen.

As the two passed by a cluster of trees...Marie couldn't help but stare longingly at the other mothers and their children playing there. She sighed, it'd be so nice if Will could join in the fun...For a fleeting moment, Marie took a step forward towards the large crowd of people but quickly stepped back upon reconsideration. No...This was too risky...She didn't know how people would react to her grandson. She didn't want to know how people would react to her grandson...

"Mwrrr…"

Marie looked down to see a very confused looking William looking longingly at her. The look on his face indicating he wanted to do nothing more than join in the fun. Marie could only scratch him behind the ears apologetically before continuing walking.

To try and make it up to Will, Marie brought him to the more secluded areas of the park. Showing him the different flowers and sniffing it with him. Occasionally laughing when the poor guy got pollen in his nose. His sneezes were adorable. She allowed him to clamber onto the occasional rock structure and when she was absolutely sure there was no one around...Marie finally released the squirming Will and allowed him to pounce, run and attack any small animal in the vicinity to his heart's desire.

It was an hour later when Marie was certain Will had tired himself out...She could tell by how the kitten had scampered back to her, a goofy smile on his face before he promptly collapsed face first onto her lap, his little tongue hanging out. Marie laughed, before scratching the panting kitten behind his ears, getting a deep purr from him.

"Let's go home…"As they cut through the trees and back onto the main pathway, Marie held Will closer to her as more people started to stroll past them.

"Cute kid…" a woman with a yapping poodle cooed. Marie didn't think much of it until Will suddenly leaped out of her arms and hissed at the dog, causing it to whimper and hide behind its owner while Will, clueless, reached for its owner, thinking he was going to be picked up and held. There was a deafening silence before the woman reared back violently, kicking up a couple of leaves and dirt in Will's face, causing him to cry.

Horrified, Marie, leaned forward to scoop the kitten back up and hold him close to her as he cried helplessly into her shoulder, those little claws pressed so deeply into her shoulder.

"What… WHAT IS THAT THING?" the woman screeched as she eyed both Marie and Will...fear very evident in her eyes. Her scream had attracted a fair number of people, who were starting to crowd around them curiously. Marie felt something clench at the base in her stomach and she quickly tried to pull the hood of Will's rain coat a little lower to cover his face .

"That THING is my GRANDSON! And how dare you hurt him like that? He's just a baby!" she snapped fiercely.

"Baby? That - That is the creepiest thing I've ever seen…IT BELONGS IN A ZOO!" the woman sneered and several onlookers nodded and Marie could hear the snide comments they had…Things like "someone should put a leash on that thing…" "God what is it?"

Marie felt the heat travel from her gut to her head. Her anger fueled by Will's trembling and cries as he curled deeper into her for protection… his tail wrapped so tightly around her arm...That was precisely what she was going to do. She was going to protect him. To protect him from people who ever dared to hurt him. With her blood boiling to critical levels, Marie approached the women before locking eyes with her.

"Go f*** yourself…" she snarled before wrapping her arms more tightly around her whimpering grandson as they made a hasty retreat from the park.

That night, Marie sat on her armchair,her face buried in her hands.

The words of that woman still ringing in her ears. How could she say that to William? How could she possibly...He was a baby...A cute little helpless baby...Sure he wasn't a normal baby but that didn't make him any less human...Marie clenched her fists…

"You're a hypocrite Marie… A real f*** hypocrite you know that?" she spat at herself. Here she was questioning how someone could possibly say such things when she had vivid memories of herself doing the exact same things. To Greer of all people...God...Even the words were… and Marie wasn't sure if she ever felt this angry in her life.

How on earth did Greer ever come around to forgive her... Marie didn't know… And that just made the guilt even more painful…

"Mwrr…"

Removing her face from her hands, Marie could see Will brushing himself against her leg, his ears pressed flat against his head while his tail tucked itself firmly between his legs, the look on his face almost seemed to indicate that he was sorry for what happened earlier…

"Oh baby...It wasn't your fault…" Marie whispered as she picked up the kitten, cuddling him close to her as she rubbed little comforting circles around his belly.

"People just fear what they don't understand…That's all…" she mumbled before giving him a bump on the forehead and nuzzling his nose.  
"You're the cutest little baby I've ever seen… Yes you are…" she cooed and Will started nuzzling her in return, his little purrs getting louder and louder as he settled into a more comfortable position on his grandmother's lap… Half an hour later, the two of them were sleeping peacefully together with Will curled adorably in Marie's lap and her arms wrapped protectively around his tiny body.

* * *

From the moment they got back to the Mansion the entire staff were there to comfort Will and try to reassure Marie. Jean must have told her, 'Greer would be proud' a dozen times and for some reason every time the psychic did ... it just made Marie feel worse. Will meanwhile had retreated so far into himself that he barely took his head off of her shoulder, not even when Kurt and Remy tried to get a smile out of the little tiger. He might not have understood what the people at the park had been saying but he was old enough to know it was about him and he didn't like it.

Eventually Marie realized what she needed to do ... she just needed to swallow her pride and do it.

K opened her door and was not overly surprised to find Marie of all people standing there. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the state of the cub clutching to her.

"You really don't follow directions do you?" K's timber wasn't kind and there was another very Greer like sigh from the reporter that earned her no quarter from K.

"I did ... took him to the park actually." Maire sounded exhausted and only paused for a moment when Will went from clutching her to leaping into K's far more familiar arms. He hadn't let anyone else touch him since they'd gotten back.

"And," K waited as Marie explained quickly what had happened at the park.

"I thought I knew what I was doing - that I'd protect him but … Someone - people - they said something really horrible to Will and all I could do was - I - I ran. And it made me realize ... I have no idea what I'm doing." and as if to emphasize her point she could only watch as K soothed her own grandson in a way she wasn't even sure how to describe. A feral way ... she was sure of it. The low rumble K was giving out seeming to comfort Will.

"Well admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, so I'm told."

"I ... " and for a moment Marie wasn't really sure what she was doing here standing in front of this woman she didn't really know but who was holding her grandson with more ease then she did, "I was hoping you could… show me the ropes? Give me some advice?" and Marie watched as K's held her gaze, unreadable as the reporter wondered what she said wrong this time. Particularly when the tiny brunette closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"People are so stupid, right whiskers?" and there was a little rumble from the tiger before K tipped her head and let muttered something too quiet for Marie to catch, followed shortly by Abby appearing at K's knees. "The kids can play - outside, but I'm not going to coach you. That's between you and your daughter. Try admitting to her that you need help. Might just help fix the mess you made with her."

...

"And...you're sure that's a good idea?" Marie asked as the kids played near the horsebarn. And as if to illustrate, the little tiger had come to a slow crawl behind the seemingly unaware Abbey, happily playing with her blocks.

"They're fine," K said, unconcerned as Will pounced at Abbey. Just before he made contact, the adorable little girl snarled and turned to catch him in an almost perfect imitation of her mother, the two of them tumbling across the hay strewn floor. "You worry too much."

Marie just watched in somewhat stunned silence as the little girl matched Will growl for growl as the two took turns chasing the other. Abbey focused on getting a hold of Will's striped tail as Will attempted to pin his favorite playmate...despite Abbey getting the better of most exchanges.

"Anyway, Abbey and I won't be around tomorrow. Stay on the grounds and you'll be fine." Marie nodded slowly before looking back at K.

"Thank you…" she said and the brunette raised an eyebrow.

"Don't do that. This is for them. Not you, and they do it often enough," the lithe woman shrugged but Marie shook her head.

"No… Thank you for providing Will with a friend… You don't know how much he's going to need it…" Marie said solemnly as she watched Abbey grab a tuft of Will's fur… K could only roll her eyes at the sentiment as Marie moved toward her with an arm outstretched.

"If you try to hug me, I'll put six deep holes in you…" she warned and Marie subtly took a step back.

"Wouldn't dream of it." she smirked back before leaning against the wall and watching the two children play.


	3. Just Like Mommy

**_Here's another bit of fluff ... though I'll admit I have some new ideas brewing that may be taking me back to slightly more serious things ... keep an eye on the posts and maybe we'll find out together._**

 ** _Thanks for all the reviews!_**

 _Angela: +2_

* * *

Colton had decided to take the two cubs out on a road trip leaving her free of pressure for a week. Of course when you tied yourself to the Avengers 'free of pressure' also involved spending the last six hours fighting the latest Abomination with Hulk being MIA to do the heavy lifting. The tigress let out a hiss as she bent to take off her uniform ... at least she finally got the at least she managed to land a few good hits on him. Unlike the last time where she had been practically invisible.

Greer bit her lip as she fought not to let her stupid anxieties get the best of her. But it was hard to be useful when you're working with names like Captain America, Iron Man and Vision ... I mean they practically outdid her in everything ... EVERYTHING ... strength ... leadership ...

"Popularity polls…" Greer mumbled with an annoyed huff as collapsed onto the king sized bed.

Well at least she still had access to all Avenger facilities, including her own apartment on the compound. From what she heard, she had a bigger living space than the Cap himself...Of course, having two kittens who climbed and gnawed on everything played a part in that but it was still satisfying to know she at least outdid Steve in one thing.

**CRASH!**

Greer shot up in alarm, her ears twitching as her eyes scanning the room carefully. That had came from her walk in closet.

Cautiously approaching the source of the noise, Greer readied herself to strike before flinging the doors open. What she saw made her eyes widen in surprise.

In the center of the huge storage structure was all her dresses strewn on the ground and on top, a very unhappy looking Angela who seemed to have gotten her tail stuck in the over-sized dress she was wearing...Along with a hat...And a necklace…

"Angie?"

Upon hearing her mother's voice, the kitten hissed in surprise before hiding herself underneath the fort of dresses she created. Greer rolled her eyes.

"Oh where did Angie disappear too?" she said in mock wonder, her eyes never leaving the little bump under her pile of dresses, which let out a giggle and a mighty shriek as Greer grabbed the squirming kitten with a smile before nuzzling the mewling Angela who immediately started to nuzzle back.

After nuzzling a little more, Greer stopped, much to Angela's displeasure who promptly bunted her head to her mother's. Greer raised an eyebrow. She just noticed that Angela was wearing lipstick...Her lipstick.

"So… Why aren't you with daddy? Did he let you stay home?"

The kitten didn't even look guilty as she calmly shrugged and mentioned something about escaping and climbing out of the car window...Much to Greer's amazement and horror.

"Angie you can't do that… Daddy must be worried sick about you…."

This time the kitten lowered her head guiltily as she watched Greer hurridly text Colton that Angie was safe and more importantly, at home.

"Wanted be with you…" she mewled softly. Her amber eyes locking with Greer's emerald ones while her ears pressed flatly against her head. The mother tigress sighed. Oh the look on that face was enough to melt the toughest of warriors…

"Well, I want to be with you too but you can't do this sort of thing again OK? Also, why are you wearing my dress?"

The kitten immediately flashed all her little teeth as she smiled widely.

"Pwetty!" she announced before wriggling out of Greer's lap, tripping on the dress she was wearing as she hurried over to the pile of clothes. With a grin Angela pulled out a sheet of paper before handing it to Greer, eagerly crawling back into her mother's lap as if desperate to see Greer's reaction. Greer raised an eyebrow as she looked at the piece of paper… Whoa… Her daughter had some amazing talent…

"You did this?" Greer asked fondly as she stroked her daughter's back, freeing her tail in the process, much to the kitten's pleasure.

"Uh huh! Pwetty! Pwetty like you!" Angela chanted before shyly adding in, "wanna to be… pretty… like… you…"

Greer laughed… It has been a while since anybody called her pretty.

"Is that why you're wearing my dress?" she cooed as she lightly nuzzled Angela's neck, causing the kitten to purr while nodding her head vigorously.

"Wanna be pwetty…" Greer stopped nuzzling for a split second… an idea short of brilliant crossing her mind. Who said you needed to sleep to relax?

"Hey Ange?" the kitten leaned over, her eyes still closed like she expected Greer to keep nuzzling.

"Mmmm?"

"Do you want to get pretty dresses of your own?" Angela's eyes shot wide open before she started mewling YES at the top of her lungs, clambering all over her mother as she tried to nuzzle every inch of her face. Greer laughed before lifting the kitten off her.

"Let's go get changed then…"

Ten minute later, Greer and Angela were sitting in the grey ashford, smiling in excitement as Jarvis drove calmly on… True, it took Angela a few minutes to get used to her mother's induced image… In fact the kitten had hissed and snarled before ducking under the bed when a raven head stranger suddenly appeared in her mother's place.

It took Greer a few minutes of cajoling and bribing to get the kitten to finally believe that the raven head stranger was her… To which Angela approved with a hesitant lick to Greer's thumb… The tigress smiled before pulling Angela's hood a little lower down the kitten's head. She didn't have an inducer of her own yet so Greer had to use the "old fashioned way" to disguise the kitten… But already she could tell Angela was going to hate the very idea of an inducer…

"Just like her dad…" Greer thought with a smile, as the kitten started to nuzzling her hand…Purring with content.


	4. All Kinds of Training

_Will:_ _10_

 _Angela: 8  
_

* * *

Greer looked nervously as her two children readied themselves to conquer Colton's test.

The goal was simple, scale the obstacle course, get to the top without falling into the water and press on a button to stop the timer...'Sounds easy enough.' Greer bit her lip. Usually the simplest tests always ended up with the most injuries.

Also, Colton thought it was time for the cubs to be allowed to duel each other. Greer rubbed her temples...How Colton talked her into allowing him to do that completely eluded her…and she could only try to keep her calm by wrapping her tail around her leg to stop it from hitting Steve who was standing nearby.

"You and Colton take teaching your children how to defend themselves pretty seriously… Don't you?" Steve asked casually as he leaned over to get a closer look at the cubs.

"Uh… Colton more like it… I'm not very supportive… of this…" Greer answered truthfully as she watched worriedly as Colton signaled for them to start.

Will curled his spine...Taking slow deep breaths to calm his racing nerves...His eyes never leaving the obstacle course…He had trained hard for this… He was not going to fail this time…and he WAS NOT going to lose to his stupid sister.

Will bared his teeth in warning as Angie smirked at him… Her amber eyes taunting.

"You'll never catch up…" she whispered before darting off like an arrow as their father gave the signal. William snarled in surprise before clumsily running after her. He panted as he dropped down on all fours. Just watching Angela go made him mad…Clumsy… Distracted…He shook his head and focused on the movement of his paws instead, scraping against the ground with so much force, gaining so much speed that they actually became a blur, and that's when he saw himself overtake Angela.

' _Don't get distracted_!' he could hear his father's rumble in his head, knowing that if he did, he'd just fall back behind again. Suppressing his smile, he instead focused on trying to scale the obstacle course, literally clawing himself up the wood.

Angela smirked. She may have fallen behind, but it was completely intentional. She could already see how her brother was tiring himself as he supported his entire body weight on his claws. No...The proper way should have been to leap your way up like he showed them. Angela rolled her eyes before making the jump. Two leaps in and she had already caught up with a panting William.

William was trying his best to catch his breath before an infuriating voice caused him to turn in both awe and alarm…

"Behind you dum dum!" William gasped before sloppily trying to execute a side kick, one that Angela blocked with a smirk and that's when Will felt the force of her punch…One that caused him to lose his fragile grip on the wood and send him plummeting into the water below.

Greer couldn't help but wince and cover her mouth as she watched her small boy go head first into the water…

"Wow…that girl can really hit…" Steve remarked much to her annoyance. Was he encouraging this too? God… Steve seemed to take notice of her frustration and smiled sheepishly.

"But your boy's not bad too… Great fighting spirit…" Greer sighed before going back to looking over the railing.

"C'mon Will…You can do it… C'mon…" she whispered, waiting desperately for his familiar face to come popping out of the water… She heaved a giant sigh of relief when he did… and couldn't help but feel impressed… and a little proud as the small kitten released what could be argued as a roar before charging towards the obstacle course again.

Will growled and panted as he made frantic attempts to catch up his sister. He was out of breath already and the water was clinging to his fur, making him heavier, sloppier…But he was almost there…Three more leaps… Two more leaps… One more leap…

"YARGH!" he roared as tried to land a punch on her, he missed and her kick sent him skidding back a few meters.

"Give it up dum dum…You might be older than me…But when it comes to this kind of thing…You're always going to be second place." He heard Angela taunt and that made him absolutely livid…With one more wild cry, William lunged for his sister only to yelp as Angela's second punch caused him to see stars… and then more water.

By the time Will clambered onto the top of the course and smacked the button, he was soaking wet, aching and more importantly… Three entire minutes slower than Angela.

He looked at his father hopefully, dying to see a smile, a pat on the back… Anything… But Colton only rumbled low in his throat before gesturing for him to hit the showers.

Will felt his ears press flat against his head.

"Ok dad…" he mumbled before trudging towards the exit. As he stole one more glance at his father, he could see how he was patting Angela gently on the back. Pride in his eyes as he talked to Steve. His sister turned to grin at him…before her face softened into what could be deemed as apologetic.

Will only shrugged back, before quickly disappearing through the door. Wiping his tears away…he even pushed his mother aside as he made a mad dash for his room.

* * *

It took Greer almost an hour to find the sulking Will hiding in the cockpit of the quinn-jet. He had curled himself into a tiny ball of stripped fur…Head buried in paws and tail curled around his leg. Greer couldn't help but feel her own ears lower…Oh she remembered _that_ pose.

"Hey Will…"

There was only a slight 'humf' before the kitten proceeded to bury his face deeper into his paws.

"Leave me alone…" he moaned. Greer bit her lip…Even that sounded familiar.

"Oh come on…" she cajoled before wrapping him in a hug, only holding him closer as he struggled stubbornly at first. Finally he stopped squirming and lowered his head close to her chest...He was sniffling…

"I failed today…" he said softly, hugging his mother tighter for comfort.

"No… Not at all…"

"Don't lie! You saw what happened…I lost…again…You and dad must think I'm such a loser…" the kitten sniffed, his dark hair tumbling over his emerald green eyes. Eyes that were aimed to the ground as if ashamed.

Greer frowned… She was definitely going to have a talk with Colton about what his "training" was doing to their children. But first, she was going to fix this…

"I don't think you were a loser at all. I thought you were amazing out there. How you managed to keep coming out of the water. That was amazing. Even Mr. Rogers said you had fighting spirit. Hear that? Captain America said you had fighting spirit…" Greer smiled, brushing William's tousled hair out of his face.

However, his eyes remained firmly trained to the ground.

"How 'bout dad?" Will asked softly. Captain America's opinion didn't matter to him. His father's was the one that mattered...The one he wanted...and Greer tried to give him her most honest answer without making him more upset than he was.

"Your dad doesn't think you're a loser…"

"Then why does he treat me like one?" Will argued back, his paws clenched into tiny fists. But Greer could see the tears he was holding back and she sighed. Yup...Colton and her were going to have a long chat tonight.

Hugging him tighter again, she proceeded to rub little circles on his back…Something that had always pacified him.

"He doesn't mean to Will… It's just that… Your dad can be very bad at expressing what he really feels sometimes…" she whispered as her son sobbed quietly into her neck…His little arms now wrapped around her. Finally his shoulders stopped trembling.

"Mum?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone about this...I mean it! Especially not Ange and dad…"

"Of course Will… Of course…" Greer nodded. The cub narrowed his eyes much like his father did.  
"Tail swear?"

"Tail swear…" Greer smiled before snaking her tail around Will's darker one. Satisfied, Will took her hand and back towards the compound(?)…

* * *

Will waited until he knew Angela was asleep before he finally went up to bed. He didn't want to face the fact he lost to her again…She had been unbearable all day and Greer knew it was upsetting for him to be constantly reminded of his "failure." So she let him stay attached to her instead. Letting him do whatever he wanted and although after his little outburst Will was back to his usual, serious self...Greer knew that this was the way he ensured that nobody knew how he was really feeling. But Greer knew...she always knew.

Later that night when she poked her head in and saw both of the cubs asleep. Satisfied, she found Colton skimming through files on his tablet. It seemed Katherine had finally decoded the latest hard rive he had sent her.

"You're pushing them too hard." Colton looked up for a moment to gauge Greer's mood. This conversation was getting repetitive.

"We've discussed this. You saw what I found."

"Yes...I know. But they didn't have a record of _our_ children. And you've been keeping a watch over Abbey, Rose and James...more than anyone ever asked you to. And do you honestly think anyone will come after them here?" Greer hated sounding petty but...Colton couldn't watch over everyone. He couldn't protect everyone and she wanted him here with her… With their family…

"Working with the Avengers has provided us with cover but..."

"But what?" Greer knew something was bothering Colton...something he hadn't told her yet.

"Weapon X...HYRDA...AIM...we've been taking them down for years...decades for Logan. Eventually they will realize that we're more trouble then we're worth. And then...they'll look for other options." Greer sighed...she knew Colton wasn't just being paranoid. How many times had they come after Colton...after her? Not to mention the seemingly never ending crusade to control Logan and K.

"But they're still children...not soldiers."

"I know that...I know."

"Really? Because you're not doing a great job of showing it." Greer growled to make a point. Colton turned around disturebd at the comment.

"What do you mean I'm not showing it?"

"Your son was crying his eyes out thinking YOU saw him as a complete failure… Hear that? He sees himself as a complete failure…"

"I don't think he's a failure."

"How do you expect him to know that? He's nine! He's a kid! He doesn't draw conclusions like we do… Look…You can't go on treating him like this…"

"Treating him like what?"

"Treating him like a soilder about to be drafted to war…" Greer snapped before rubbing her temples, "Look…I know you have his best interests at heart. But he needs a father. He needs you to show him you care about him…That you love him Colton. Not - Not having my dad around to care for me was horrible… I don't want Will to feel the same way…" Greer said softly before turning around and exiting the room.

Leaving Colton sitting there thinking about what his mate had told him.

* * *

Will felt a gentle hand on his shoulder...snapping awake he quickly grabbed at the wrist and attempted to twist it, ready to let out a roar but found a hand over his mouth. He was about to bite it when he recognized the scent.

"Shhhh..." Will nodded his head as the hand slowly came off.

"Dad...whatr' you doin'? Isn' it late?" Will saw it was a little after 12. But without a word Colton gestured for Will to follow him and giving a quick look at his slumbering sister, he padded out after his dad until they were outside in the courtyard.

"Dad...whatr' we doin'?" Will rubbed the sleep in his eye.

"I know you've been falling behind you sister..." Will's eyes went open for a moment before dropping to the ground. He fought back tears...big cats didn't cry...warriors didn't...

"So I thought we could do a little training in secret." Will looked up to see his father pulling out practice mitts for striking.

"Just...just me and you? No Angela?" Will thought this might be too good to be true. He always did EVERYTHING with Angela but Colton just nodded his head.

"Just me and you. Now… How about some hand eye coordination practice?" Will nodded his head eagerly, sleep forgotten as he and his father worked under the stars.


	5. Angela Gets Her Way

Angela: 5 years old

* * *

"I'm bored."

Colton took a deep breath.

"Bored...bored...bored...bored..."

Colton too another, deeper, breath.

"Boooooooorrreee -"

"Angela..." Colton's growl got the little tigress to scrunch her shoulders for only a moment before quickly running over. Dad had opened his eyes, which meant 'quite time' was over. Which meant...

"Can we play?" Angela had her paws on Colton's thigh, who had been attempting to meditate in the woods. He had agreed to take Angela in order to give Greer enough time with Will to take him shopping for new clothes before he started school with the younger children. Poor Will...

"Daaaaad..." Colton looked down at his youngest. He had thought the woods might be the best for both of them. He knew Angela enjoyed playing over all the downed trees and pouncing after whatever little creatures happened to wander by and it gave him an opportunity for silence. Wrong it would seem.

"Well?" Oh no...she was looking at him like _that_. Who had taught her how to look at him like that? Five years old and she got through a decade of training with a look. Glancing over, he spotted something that gave him an idea.

"Angela, do you see that bird?" the little tigress whipped around to see a dark bird had landed on a low branch, about twelve feet above her head.

"Uh hu..." Angela's tail was slowly swaying behind her, her focus totally set on that bird.

"If you can bring me the bird...we can play." Colton was pleased to see her simply nod her head as she started creeping forwards silently on all fours. ' _Perfect...that should keep her occupied._ '

Taking yet another breath, Colton resumed his meditation, keeping enough awareness to track his daughter's movements through the brush over the next half-hour. Waiting silently in a bush...stealthily crawling over a log...the soft pads of her feet pressing into the earth..."SQUAA-"

Apex was on his feet and looking in the direction of his daughter at the sudden outburst of sound. But before he could go after her, she came sauntering out, the very bird clamped triumphantly in her fist. He just stared as she came over and held it up to him, pride obvious on her face.

"So we play now?" Colton hadn't honestly expected her to actually get the animal as he reached down to take the bird and look once from it and back down at his smiling daughter. Oh if Greer found out ... distraction was a good idea.

"Yes...we play now," he couldn't help but smirk at her reaction, tail now swaying wildly and eyes bright, "what would you like to do?"

"Up! I want to go up!" Colton let out a small chuckle as he nodded and Angela quickly scampered up to his back, her tiny claws clasped onto his shoulders.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

Moving quickly, Colton maneuvered up the closest red wood, giving up explaining his movements as Angela just howled with laughter. Soon, they were high in the treetops and he came to a stop on a strong enough branch. Angela was twisting in every direction, trying to take everything in.

"So what now?"

"Fast! I wanna to go fast!" Angela giggled, which she followed by playfully swiping at it before gripping even tighter to her father's back as she felt him tense. She loved this part...

Colton moved from tree to tree, Angela letting out little roars as the flew through the tree tops.

Greer opened the door for a glum and exhausted Will, telling him to bring his bags upstairs to his room so she could put them away. He was starting nursery tomorrow with a few of the other...special children and she wanted him to fit in with everyone else. That meant some actual clothes instead of just his usual little shorts.

"And we're having steak for dinner." That got a smile out of the cub as he ran upstairs now. He had kept his complaining to a minimum, and having kept him under a hood and in pants for that long...the little guy deserved a treat.

She was just turning from the car as she saw Angela burst out of the tree line, a little orange rocket, with Colton following behind. She just got her own bags down and her inducer off in time for Angela to leap into her arms.

"And how was _your_ day today with Daddy?" She nuzzled her head to Angela's who immediately went into her day in the trees.


End file.
